Young & Beautiful
by Halia Stone
Summary: A secret is something that is kept, or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others. But this secret could break the Wasabi Warriors beyond the point of no return.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, here's another one of my new stories (three at the same time, *Jack's voice* I am on fire, _fire!_ xD) and I can't say why without spoiling anything, but I'm actually pretty excited about this story and where it's gonna go, since it's the first AU type story I think I've done (as well as I Kissed a Boy and I Liked it)**

**And all I'm gonna say, is please leave reviews (over five, shall we say, 'cause I'll need a jump-start and I really wanna get over 100 reviews on this before I finish it and it's about 9-10 chapters long) and keep an eye out for certain tiny details. (Yeah, it's one of those again, 'cause I'm a sucker for foreshadowing and making people's heads spin)**

* * *

_The route was almost like a program in his brain these days, telling his feet to move. He'd been so many times lately that it seemed surreal every time he actually got there. Actually _felt_ the grass beneath his knees and the paper clutched more tightly in his fist._

_The tears that burned in his eyes when the fresh paper replaced an older envelope that had never been opened were just a constant - _painful -_ reminder that they never would be read at all, by anyone._

_As common a place as it was for him to visit now, he shouldn't have been here at all. None of it made it okay._

* * *

(_Three weeks earlier_)

"No, dude, I'm telling you the remake sucks," Jerry argued with certainty.

"The remake is cheesy and glorified by Hollywood," Milton offered as a rebuttal.

"Duh!" Jerry said with a roll of his eyes, hitting Milton in the shoulder. "That's what makes it awesome!" he chuckled excitedly.

"You're intolerable," Milton sneered jokingly, shoving Jerry back and making to walk away.

"Hey, don't try and win this by using big words I can't understand!" Jerry said with a childish sounding whine, pulling Milton back towards him.

"Guys!" Rudy yelled loudly, breaking their stream of arguments, making them jump around and face him. "Could you focus, please?!" he pleaded with them, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "This tournament's _really_ important," he emphasized, giving them a knowing look.

"You say that about every tournament, Rudy," Kim chuckled knowingly, whilst she was stretching her arms.

"Well, this time the winning Dojo gets put in the 'recommended' section of _Karate Fancy_," Rudy explained proudly, this peaking both Jack and Kim's interests. "And as a plus, I get to rub it in Ty's face!" he added with an evil-sounding chuckle, rubbing his hands together childishly.

"He's a real jerk," Milton chipped in suddenly, stepping forwards. "I don't know how you stood training with that guy, Kim," he said in wonder, looking at her.

"One of life's mysteries," she responded, folding her arms with a grin.

"Alright guys, let's get to sparring," Rudy said briskly, clapping to regain his student's attention. "For the tournament, we need to win at least two out of our three seperate rounds to win the match," he explained.

"We'll be fine," Jerry said dismissively, waving his hand. "We've got Jack, man," he said proudly, swinging an arm around his shoulders, Jack smiling at him.

"As good as he is, I still need to train the rest of you," Rudy reminded him, "What if something happens to him?" he added with a fearful glance in his direction, that had Jack looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Like Ty getting Frank to break his leg again?" Kim grumbled, folding her arms.

"He ain't gonna let a broken leg slow him down," Jerry said surely, shaking his head with a grin. "Right, Jack?"

Jack looked at him, a brief glimmer of determination flickering in his eyes, and smiled resolutely. "Right," he nodded in agreement.

"Okay, pair up," Rudy called to them, Jack moving away slightly. "Jack, you're with Kim, Jerry, you're with Milton," he announced, stepping back as Jack and Kim squared up to each other.

"Yes!" Milton cheered, leaping practically five feet into the air with joy.

"What was _that_ for?" Jerry asked, wincing and sticking a finger in his ear as the sound of Milton's yell was _still_ going through him.

"I don't wanna fight Kim," he said quickly, shaking his head while Kim frowned at him. "I hardly ever wanna fight _you_," he admitted, chuckling sheepishly.

"Not that I blame ya," Jerry said with a smug smirk. "These fists are pretty deadly," he added proudly, brandishing his fists in the air.

"Yes, to yourself," Kim chipped in dryly, rolling her eyes at him.

Jerry stuck his tongue out at her and Kim stuck hers out right back, the two of them breaking into a fit of laughter before they refocused and began sparring with their partners.

It wasn't a long while before Jerry was - thankfully - distracted by a loud groan of pain coming from across the room. He stepped to the side, Milton falling on the ground as his kick missed his target, and saw Jack doubled over, hands clasped over his stomach and his face contorted with pain.

"Ah!"

"What's wrong, did I kick you?" Kim asked worriedly, bending down to his eye-level and placing a hand on his back.

"_No..._" Jack managed to force out through clenched teeth, huffing out a breath. He coughed and Rudy shot over to him, helping him stand up straight; Jack's fingers clenching tightly onto his.

"Jack, maybe you should go sit down in my office for a bit?" Rudy suggested, the suggestion getting turned down with a feverent shake of Jack's head. "Milton, could you go get me an ice pack?" he called to him, glancing away from Jack for a moment.

"Sure."

"I'm fine," Jack insisted firmly, "Really," he added quickly, waving Milton back as he saw he was still going to grab an ice pack. "Just a bad stomach cramp," he explained, taking a few breaths until he was able to stand properly upright without Rudy's help.

"Your Mum cook again?" Jerry offered as a joke.

"Something like that," Jack affirmed through gulps of air, Rudy patting him on the shoulder.

"Take it a bit easier, you two," he advised Jack and Kim and they nodded, continuing to spar with each other, at a much slower pace.

"And as for you two," he turned to look at them, "Milton, stop holding back as much," he said and Milton nodded. "It won't be your friend you're fighting in the tournament, y'know," he added mischievously, walking off to supervise Jack and Kim.

Jerry had to move out of the way _fast_ as Milton shot off like a cork out of a wine bottle, trying very hard to get his head off. He gritted his teeth and started fighting back, smiling in satisfaction when a few of his hits sucessfully landed.

"Kim!" Rudy cried out suddenly and Jerry looked over to see Jack on the floor, groaning in pain and holding his leg, narrowly missing getting kicked in the ribs.

Jerry ran over to him, as did Rudy, the two of them nearly colliding as they skidding to Jack's side on the floor. This was unsual, even for Jack; not so much that he got _flipped_, more to the point that he was actually _showing_ he was in pain. He never did that, unless it was absolutely necessary - and Kim was going easy on him.

"I told you to take it easy!" he said, helping a dazed Jack sit up. He groaned again and rubbed the back of his head.

"We did," Kim said with a heavy sigh, her brows wrinkling in worry as Jack gritted his teeth. "Jack, you alright?" she asked in concern, reaching down and helping Jack to his feet.

"I'm _fine_, Kim," he insisted, managing to catch himself before he stumbled again from the pain. "Don't worry about me," he demanded lightly, forcing a smile.

"Go get a drink of water, Jack," Rudy advised, standing up and gently nudging him towards the locker room. "We'll wait," he added, when Jack looked back at him briefly, before disappearing into the locker room.

Too many minutes later, Jerry hopped off the mat rack and checked his watch. Jack had been gone for about twenty minutes; there was no way he was just getting a drink of water.

"Yo, Rudy, he's been in there a while," he said uneasily, glancing towards the locker room door, "I'm gonna go see if he's alright," he said, already half-way there before the time Rudy actually nodded at him.

He eased the door open, not really sure of what he was expecting to find. Not a single of the scenarios in his mind involved Jack just getting a glass of water.

"Jack, you okay in here, man?" he called to him, recieving no response. "The toilet swallow you up or something?" he joked as he got inside, the echoing sound of retching and coughing filling his ears.

"Guessin' that's a 'no'," he said, walking over to Jack worriedly as he emerged from a cubicle after flushing his vomit down, wiping his mouth with a wince.

"I'm fine," he said, waving him off dissmissively once he saw him. "Told you, it's just a stomach bug," he said lightly, walking over to the sink,

"Well, yeah but-" Jerry stopped talking and did a double-take at some of the vomit that had missed the toilet; it was _red_. "Dude, is that _blood?_" he asked in shock, eyes bulging.

"What?!" Jack yelled suddenly, neck all-but cracking as his head practically spun all the way around. His eyes softened as he saw what Jerry was looking at, but the other boy still caught the brief flash of panic in them. "Oh, no that's... that's just ketchup," he said with an uneasy smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Jerry raised an eyebrow.

"I had burger for breakfast," Jack explained with a shrug, looking at him indignantly.

Jerry chuckled and held his hands up in surrender, walking up to the sink as Jack rolled back his sleeves and started washing his hands, catching sight of a _large_, angry, red bruise on his arm.

"Ouch," he said with a sympathetic wince, Jack turning to look at him in confusion. "Kim give that to you?" he asked with a mischievious grin, pointing to the bruise. The great Jack Brewer, bruised by a girl.

"No," Jack said sharply - almost too quickly - once he had gotten a look at the bruise, pulling his sleeve back down and hiding it from Jerry's view. "I fell down the stairs yesterday," he explained, "Should've put my skateboard away," he added with a weak sounding chuckle.

"You sure you're okay?" Jerry asked, it starting to sound like a broken record, but that didn't look like _enough_ injuries to have fallen down the stairs the way Jack had claimed.

"Yes," Jack nodded exaggeratedly, taking a hold of his shoulders. "And as weird as it is for you to see me ill" - he broke off as the two of them shared a smirk - "I'm okay," he said in reassurance, although it sounded much more like determination.

Jerry remained skeptical.

"You alright now, Jack?" Rudy asked when the both of them walked back into the Dojo, to which Jack could only manage a nod that was disrupted by a loud yawn. "Just spar with Milton for the time being," he said off-handedly.

"I'm not _that_ sick," Jack said in revulsion, folding his arms.

"Hey!" Milton cried in indignation.

"You're one of the best fighters we have, Jack, I'm not taking any chances with you," Rudy said sternly, a muscle in Jack's jaw clenching as he looked down at the floor.

"Again, _hey!_" Milton said in annoyance, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"And Milton's the least likely to hurt ya," Jerry put in, throwing an arm around Jack's shoulders. "The only thing the dude can make a dent in is one of those huge salads you get at the Olive Garden," he said knowingly, nodding at Jack with a huge grin. "And even then it's not that big," he joked, Kim and Rudy bursting into laughter while Jack remained silent.

"Seriously, I'm right here!" Milton yelled with a huff of frustration, folding his arms. Once again, he was ignored.

Jack cleared his throat and looked at Rudy apologetically. "Actually, I think I'm just gonna call it a day," he decided, Rudy nodding in understanding. "But I'll be back tomorrow, don't worry," he said firmly, walking away towards the Dojo's double-doors.

"Get some rest," Rudy called to him softly, Jack nodding as he left.

"The rest of you get back to work!" he called suddenly, Jerry practically teleporting over to Kim and they began sparring with each other.

* * *

"You think Jack's gonna be okay?" Kim asked Jerry and Milton the next day in the school canteen, poking her salad with her fork. "He looked pretty bad yesterday," she said and Jerry had to agree; he didn't think he'd ever heard anyone throwing up that bad before, or seen anyone that pale; and since he had Milton as a friend, that was saying something.

"Where _is_ he, anyway?" Jerry wondered out loud, looking around the sea of heads in cafeteria for Jack, "He wasn't in History," he said with concern, although was inwardly thinking Jack was lucky. If he had to smell Mr. Howard's breath one more time, he was going to throw up.

"Wasn't in Home-Ec either," Milton said with a shrug, both him and Kim seeming much less worried about Jack than Jerry was.

"What if he got abducted by aliens or something, man?!" Jerry said frantically, his eyes widening. He was sure Jack would be able to handle himself against a bunch of green, scaly men, but what if they sucked him up into their spaceship with a tractor beam and starting experimenting on him?!

"What if he's standing in line to get something to eat?" Kim shot back with a chuckle, pointing her fork in the direction of the lunch line. Jerry's head immediately turned towards it.

"Phew," he said in exaggerated relief, wiping fake sweat off his brow, as he saw Jack being slipped a piece of cake - not so discreetly - by Marge. "Don't know what we'd do without him," he added with a grin, Kim and Milton nodding in agreement.

"Hey guys," Jack said unceremoniously as he reached their usual table, loudly dropping his tray on it and taking the empty seat next to Kim.

"Hey," Jerry greeted him back, not missing the flat tone to his voice. "Where were you this morning?" he asked.

"Doctors," he said with a pinched - and clearly forced - smile, making a start on his piece of red velvet cake. "Couldn't stop throwing up yesterday," he continued, shuddering in disgust.

"You feelin' okay now?" Kim asked, turning to look at him and ignoring her salad for a brief moment.

"Better than I was," Jack reiterated emotionlessly, licking some icing off his fingers.

"And you think red velvet cake's gonna help?" Milton asked incredulously, Jack raising his eyebrows. "That thing's _covered_ in cream cheese icing," he said with disgust, eyeing the slice of cake on Jack's plate.

"As long as it's not blue, I'll be fine," Jack said forcefully in Milton's direction, emphatically taking a large bite out of the cake and swallowing it while Milton grimaced.

The bell rang a few minutes later and the cafeteria was filled with the sound of clattering and chatter as people began to make their way to their next lesson. Jerry was up off his seat and waiting for the others expectantly; the sooner they got to the lesson, the sooner they could leave.

"We'd better go," Kim said, pushing her tray away and grabbing her bag. "We've got Geography," she said with a distasteful grimace that looked like she'd just swallowed a bottle of vinegar.

Jack shoved the last piece of his cake in his mouth and followed the rest of them out of the cafeteria, having to jog to catch up with them..

"You started on that project for Mr. Matthews yet, Jack?" Milton asked him, turning back while walking to talk to him.

"Milton, it's not due for a month," Kim said with a roll of her eyes, grinning at him.

"Never hurts to get a head-start on things, Kim," Milton said knowingly, raising his eyebrows.

"There are things more important than projects, Milton," Jack growled in irritation, glaring at him before he started off down the hallway ahead of them, smacking into a few people on the way.

"What was all that about?" Kim asked in surprise, furrowing her eyebrows after Jack.

All Jerry could do was shrug. But there was something weird going on with Jack; he just didn't know what.

The three of them made it to Geography, Jack already seated and resting on his fist with a bored expression on his face, and took their seats as Mr. Matthews pulled down the World Map and ordered everyone to get their workbooks out. Jerry couldn't help but notice Jack seemed detached and dejected when Mr. Matthews gave them their daily reminder about their project.

"Can anyone name this state here?" he asked the class a few lectures about the fifty states of America later. Milton's hand shot up instantly.

"It's Texas, Mr. Matthews," he said with a grin and Jerry rolled his eyes. Even _he_ could have figured that one out.

"That's right, Mr. Krupnick," he started to say, but the rest of his praise was drowned out by heavy and throaty coughing erupting from the back of the room.

Jack was doubled over, ducking behind his desk, and violently coughing - for want of a better phrase - his lungs out, covering his mouth with a fist. Jerry craned his neck to see an ashen faced Jack resurfaced.

"Mr. Brewer?" Mr. Matthews looked at him attentively.

Jack coughed again and cleared his throat. "Yes, Sir?" he asked, his voice raw.

"Why don't you go and get a drink of water?" he said suggestively, cocking his head in the direction of the door.

"No, I'll be fine, Mr-" Jack couldn't even get his sentence out before he erupted into another violent fit of coughing that had his body shaking and most of the class cringing.

"It wasn't a suggestion, Jack," Mr. Matthews called to him over the sound of his coughing, already halfway to his desk to start writing him a permission slip.

Sighing heavily, Jack shoved his workbook back into his bag and slung it over his shoulder, heading to the front of the classroom. He took the permission slip from Mr. Matthews and slammed the classroom door behind him without so much as a glance back at any of them.

Jerry leaned forwards and poked Kim in the back with his pencil. She turned to him with slightly narrowed eyes, but her expression softened when she caught sight of the worry on his face.

"You think he's okay?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, it's probably just his stomach virus getting worse," Kim said with a reassuring smile, twisting in her seat to fully face him. "He should be fine in a few days, give or take," she shrugged, and turned back to her work.

Jerry twiddled his pencil between his fingers and glanced over to Jack's empty desk, pursing his lips in thought.

The bell rang half an hour later and Jerry, while wiping the drool that had dried on his chin in his boredom, packed his book away and got out of his seat. He met up with Kim and Milton outside the classroom.

"We still on for the arcade?" Milton asked the two of them eagerly, Kim nodding.

"Yeah," Jerry said with a smile. "I'm just gonna go see if Jack's still up for it," he said, patting Milton the back as he left the classroom.

He made his way down the hallway to where both his and Jack's lockers were, stopping in his tracks and then quickly doubling back behind the wall when he saw Jack was on the phone with someone.

"I know, Mum, I'm just waiting for the right time to tell them," Jack said into the phone, like he had said that enough times, rubbing a hand over his forehead. Jerry's eyebrows furrowed; who was 'them' and what did he need to tell them?

There was a moment of Jack's Mum speaking to him where Jack's face fell, and then his expression was replaced with a look of annoyance. "Just tell them the truth; they can't keep you at work for something this important," he said surely, leaning against the row of lockers behind him.

This time the gap left by Jack's silence seemed eerie. Jerry noticed his fingers clenching slightly around the phone.

"Well, let's just hope it helps," he said, a bitter, but wistful, tone to his voice. He hung up the phone and sighed to himself, there then being a loud _thud!_ of metal - that was loud enough to make Jerry jump out of his skin - as he no-doubt punched the locker in anger.

Jerry hurried to open his locker from where he had been spying and act like he had just put some schoolbooks in as Jack walked around the corner. He stopped and looked at him with a suspicious look on his face, clearly wanting to say something, but he didn't.

Instead he just settled on, "Oh, hey, Jerry."

"Everything okay with you, man? You're a little outta whack lately," he pointed out and for the first time that day, Jack actually looked Jerry in the eyes. He looked withdrawn and downright _exhausted_; bags were forming under his eyes and he was slowly losing color in his face.

Jack closed his eyes for a split-second, biting his lip almost nervously. "I'll be fine," he said with that same forced smile Jerry had seen earlier, and patted him dismissively on the shoulder before he walked away.

Jerry sighed, unable to stop the churning in his gut. Why did he have such a bad feeling that what was going on with Jack was worse than a stomach virus?


	2. Chapter 2

**So sorry for the long wait guys, exams and stuff were keeping me busier than I would've wanted; weird, since I actually didn't revise... But I'm back and I hope you all enjoy this update. I'm not saying anything about the storyline or upcoming chapters either, just keep an eye out for things. xD And thanks for the reviews, it's been fun to read people's speculations about what's going on.**

**So as always, read, review, favourite, like, etc, and I will see you all with the next update, whenever that may be. :)**

* * *

"Oh, gross!" Jerry groaned in disgust, nearly throwing up into his mouth as he pressed a little too hard on the pig's stomach, the blood spurting up onto his safety goggles as he cut a line down the pig and reluctantly began pulling the skin flaps open.

That time, he _did_ retch. Biology as a last lesson was _not_ on his bucket list. Although it stopped him from wondering what Jack's phonecall from his mother had been about, the 'them' he had been referring to was obviously himself, Kim and Milton, but _what_ was so awful that he couldn't come clean to them about it? They always told each other everything.

"What's the matter, Mr. Martinez?" the smarmy voice of his biology teacher asked in a simpering tone from behind him, making Jerry spin around in shock. "Don't you like cutting things open?" he asked, feigning surprise.

"No," he said with a vehement shudder of disgust, reaching up to wipe the pig's blood off his safety goggles. "And no-one normal should, either!" he added in a harsh mutter under his breath as Dr. Slawter moved away from the table to slither around the room.

"That guy creeps me out, sometimes," Kim shuddered from where she was stood, dissecting her own specimen - a pigeon from the look of it. "He's obsessed with dead things," she added, her nose crinkling up in disgust from a mixture of her statement and having to pull the bird's gizzard out.

"His name _is_ Dr. Slawter," Milton pitched in, clearly the most comfortable out of all of them with dissecting a dead animal. "What did you expect?" he asked with a shrug, starting to pull out the fish's internal organs.

Jerry looked away when he was cutting away around the eye. He caught sight of Jack; he looked to be deep in thought, his brow furrowed and his lower lip worried by his teeth.

"You alright there, Jack?" he asked off-handedly, trying to find anything to distract him from having to cut the pig's snout off.

"Fine," Jack reassured him without looking at him. "Just trying to get through this without having to hear, 'There are two sides to biology, boy, life and _death_' from that creep," he explained, chuckling lightly to himself.

"At least you've got the frog, I've got a baby pig," Jerry said in disgust. Then his eyes lit up. "Trade you?" he asked, although it was really more of a plead, batting his eyelashes playfully.

Jack pulled a face, rolling his eyes. "Alright." He reached over to Jerry's tray, pulling it towards him and simultaneously pushing his own towards him. Jerry gave him a pleased smile; Jack just raised his eyebrows.

"Hey, you walked off before I could ask," Jerry began, Jack turning to look at him, "You wanna come with us to the Arcade?" he asked. "I heard they remodelled the Immortal Slayer game," he added as a final entice, Jack looking to be thinking it over.

"Maybe this time Kim'll have a chance at beating you," Milton snorted from where he was.

Kim gave an affronted gasp and pouted. "I nearly did!" she protested, folding her arms.

"Nearly never counts for anything, Kim," Milton told her, patronizingly tapping her nose.

Jack and Jerry raised their eyebrows at each other. There was a sudden yelp of pain as Kim had reached up, grabbed Milton's ear _very_ hard and twisted it.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing it once Kim had let go, a smug smile on her face. "You nearly twisted my ear off!" he said incredulously, looking at Kim like she was insane.

"Nearly never counts for anything, Milton," she mimicked, Jack having to stifle his laughter into his hand - that dissolved into a small cough - while Jerry reached over and fist-bumped Kim.

Milton gave them a wry look. "Ha-ha," he said dryly, turning his attention back to his specimen. Jack and Jerry shrugged in Kim's direction, who grinned, and got back to work before Dr. Slawter could come and freak them all out again.

It was a blessing like no other when the bell rang; Jerry was tempted to get up on a table and sing, but then he decided it wouldn't be worth getting dead gunk on his shoes. And he'd probably get detention, and look stupider than usual. Suffice to say, he was happy to be leaving the room.

"Alright, class, leave your specimens at the front with your names on the trays and I will get the grades back to you next week," Dr. Slawter called over the noise of chairs being tucked away and bags being retrieved.

"Provided he doesn't eat them first," Jerry muttered under his breath, Jack, Kim and Milton looking in agreement. They all left their specimen trys on Dr. Slawter's desk, and then left the room without a backwards glance.

An hour or so later, the four of them arrived at the Arcade, Jack and Kim's eyes instantly drawn to the Immortal Slayer game, while Jerry was more fixated on the Black Dragon's lurking in the corner by the claw machines. With any luck, Frank would be more concerned with the fluffy plushies he was desperately trying to get, rather than inflicting misery on the four of them.

"Hey, Jack," Kim began with a mischievious grin on her face. "Bet I can beat your high score," she challenged him, looking from the machine to him.

Jack scoffed at her in disbelief. "You're on!" And with that, the two of them raced off to the game, Jerry and Milton following after them, watching as they loaded up their avatars.

The screen, a 3D alleyway with several Andy Warhol style Bobby Wasabi billboards on the walls, flashed up and Jack and Kim's avatars' - Thrasher and Skullripper - dropped onto the screen, assuming a fighting stance just as the real Jack and Kim did on the motion capture pads.

The timer counted down and then the fight began, Kim initiating the first move with a jumping front kick, Jack - and in turn Thrasher - crouching down to a squat and then rearing up with an uppercut, knocking Skullripper through the air, while Kim's plate shook under her and she slipped down on her knees. She looked at Jack incredulously, he just raised his eyebrows with a cheeky grin in return.

Kim set her jaw, turning her attention back to the game. It was _on_.

"C'mon, Jack! Kick her ass," Jerry hollered a while later, watching as he dodged Kim's leg-sweep with a spin-kick, upon which he leapt into the air, landing safely back in fighting stance.

"You know this sort of stuff would be frowned upon in higher society," Milton added suddenly, both Jack and Kim turning to raise their eyebrows at him, then looking back to the game, locked in a back and forth notion of parrying each other's hits.

"Well it's a good thing none of us _are_ high society then, isn't it?" Jerry said to Milton, chuckling at him. "Oooh!" he groaned as he caught sight of Skullripper's punch nearly taking Thrasher's jaw off.

"Come on, Jack, you're not even trying!" Kim said in annoyance, her fists raised while Jack looked incredibly passive about the whole thing, despite his health bar being the lowest of the two.

"I don't need to," he retorted smartly, Kim narrowing her eyes in playfully.

Thrasher leapt up into the air, catching Skullripper's head between his ankles, flipping himself backwards - Jerry and Milton's eyes both widening as Jack himself actually mirrored the move - and rolling Skullripper to the ground, the hard slam onto the pixelated concrete taking a large chunk out of Kim's health bar.

Jack then swung a punch; Thrasher's hand connected with Skullripper's head, taking the last of her health. Kim groaned in annoyance, but then cocked her head to the side in confusion as Skullripper didn't faint, instead the screen dimmed around her and Thrasher, Skullripper's head lolling like a ragdoll while she was stood motionless.

Both Jack and Jerry gave a burst of laughter at the sight, recognising it all too well.

"No way," Jack said in disbelief. "Mortal Kombat style, haha," he added, the laughter turning into a short coughing fit, but he quickly brushed it off.

_Finish her!_

Jack sent Kim a wicked looking smirk and twisted through the air, Thrasher in turn smacking Skullripper's head off her body, blood spurting from it. Jerry burst into uncontrollable laughter as Jack _literally_ started playing soccer with Skullripper's head, tossing it up in the air and sending it streamlining through the air with a back flip.

_Fatality!_

Kim was frozen for a moment as the soccerball style graphics dissolved from the screen, Jerry unsure if she was going to start protesting and demand a rematch, before she laughed wildly, doubling over and clutching her stomach.

"Now _that_, Kim," Jack said to, slightly out of breath, her as they stepped off the capture plates, "Is how you kick someone's head off and play soccer ball with it," he added proudly, raising his eyebrows at her, an inside joke between them that neither Jerry or Milton understood.

"Pssh," Kim snorted, "You got lucky," she said knowingly, playfully elbowing him in the side. Jack smiled, suppressing a wince and rubbing where Kim's elbow had brushed him.

Jerry's eyebrows furrowed in surprise - it wasn't like Jack to wince at anything, especially a friendly, joking gesture like that, but any thoughts he had to press on the matter when out the window as he caught sight of a Zompyre movie poster on the wall.

He rushed over to it excitedly. "Sweet!" he said with a grin. He turned to Jack as he, Kim and Milton followed him over to it, the other two rolling their eyes. "Hey, Jack, you wanna go see this tonight?" he asked.

"Why tonight?" Jack wondered in confusion, his voice tapering off into a large yawn. He covered his mouth with his hand, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"You get a free t-shirt, dude," Jerry said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, Jack nodding as if to say, 'Of course it is'. "And it's in 3D!" he added, as if that would convey the point further.

"Yeah, sure," Jack agreed, giving him a tired-looking smile. Jerry grinned happily and threw an arm around him, squeezing him against him slightly. "You guys wanna come too?" he asked, looking at Kim and Milton.

Kim looked at him like he had just suggested she go and kiss Donna Tobin. "You know I hate those movies, Jack," she said with a sigh.

"How would you know?" he challenged her, folding his arms. "You went to sleep on purpose," he pointed out, Kim's lips pursing in annoyance.

"And _then_ had a nightmare I woke up in a zompyre infested Seaford and nearly got burped on by Jerry three times!" she said, gesturing wildly to Jerry, who looked just as confused as Jack and Milton did. "No thank-you," she added with finality.

"I still don't understand how you can be pissed at me for something dream me did," Jerry said, trying to reason with her. He never _actually_ tried to turn her into a Zompyre, so why had she even been mad about it in the first place? "It wasn't like you were a dolphin and I sha-"

"Okay, Jerry!" Jack loudly cut in, abruptly stopping him from finishing the setence, which was probably for the best. "Milton, you in?" he asked, raising his eyebrows hopefully.

"No," Milton said incredulously. "It's completely unrealistic" - _Of course it is! _Jerry thought to himself, _What's realistic about Zombie Vampires?_ \- "why would a professor in a war-torn wasteland have such a slick, clean haircut?" he asked, folding his arms and looking at Jack and Jerry like they were on a debate team.

"_That's_ your problem with it?" Jack cut in, in disbelief, trying and failing to hold back his laughter. "The professor's hair?" he repeated, but it sounded too ridiculous and he dissolved into a fit of laughter. "The guy appears for like five seconds before the pack tears him to shreds, anyway," he explained with a shrug.

"Oh, because that's _loads_ better," Milton said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Jerry could cross him off the list at least.

"On the plus side, he dies with dirty hair," Jerry pitched in, Jack smirking beside him and extending his hand for a fist bump, which Jerry gladly gave him.

"Nah," Milton decided, shaking his head. "I'm gonna get started on that Geography project," he said, and then moved off with Kim to the claw machines, that the Black Dragon's had vacated a while ago, leaving Jack and Jerry alone.

Jack sighed, shaking his head with a light smile in Kim and Milton's direction, turning to Jerry. "Guess it's just you and me," he said, his smile broadening. Jerry thought he looked relieved for a split-second.

"I'll meet you there, later, yeah?" Jerry asked for confirmation, looking at Jack expectantly.

"Sure," he smiled, but he seemed quieter than usual, like he didn't really want to go. He looked as distant as he had during school, going through fits and starts of it.

Shaking the thought from his mind, Jerry looked around at something they could do, a grin spreading across Jerry's face as his eyes settled on the air hockey game. "Bet I can beat you at air hockey?" he challenged.

"If you say so," Jack sang, skeptically raising his eyebrows as they walked over and began a game. Jerry grabbed the puck and threw it into the 'field'.

Needless to say, the Arcade's other patrons were subjected to very colorful Spanish words when Jack's puck had snuck past Jerry's guard for the tenth and final time, winning him the game.

* * *

Checking his watch, Jerry sighed in annoyance. Jack said he would meet him here, and he was nowhere he be seen. What was keeping him?

"Your ticket," a woman's voice said with a bright smile, bringing Jerry back to Earth.

"Thanks," he smiled back, taking it from her and walking away with it.

He handed it to the man at the theatre's entrance, looking around for any sign of Jack, but he still wasn't there, and then walked inside, taking his seat and waiting for the movie to begin. He was just glad he'd made the decision to buy food, so at least he had something to do during the trailers, like annoy the people that actually liked them by crumpling his packets too loudly. Jerry smirked to himself.

But once the movie started, he had gotten so into it - nevermind that he could quote some scenes word for word because he had seen it so many times - that he had almost forgotten Jack wasn't there. _Almost_. He wondered what was keeping him, since he was the only other person out of him, Kim and Milton that liked Zompyre films.

_The Zompyre's head hit the floor with a sickening squelch and the bar door was rammed shut against the horde. It wouldn't keep them out for long._

_"No! No! Jason..." Callum gasped in horror, pinching his nose as the fumes of noxious green gas faded from the air, his friend having been directly in the middle of it._

_Jason was breathing heavily, his entire demeanour changing. "Get away from me." he snapped, but Callum refused, refused to believe that had actually happened, and abandon his friend._

_"No, this can't be happening!" he cried in disbelief, wringing his hands nervously. The banging and snarling behind the door increased and he worriedly fisted chunks of his hair._

_"Well it is," Jason said bitterly, biting his lip. "And I'd say we've got about three minutes," he added in a pained voice, struggling to catch his breath and control himself._

_"That's not long enough!" Callum cried, shaking his head in dismay._

_Jason gave Callum a puzzled look. "What?"_

_There wasn't a verbal response from Callum. He reached forwards, cupping Jason's face in his hands, kissing Jason slowly on the lips. Closing his eyes, Jason responded gently to the slow movements of his friend's mouth._

_"Go..." he whispered forlornly once their lips parted._

_"What?"_

_"Just go. I don't want to hurt you."_

_Callum looked from his friend to the door, desperation shining in his eyes. "I can fight-"_

_"No!" Jason's harsh yell caused a tear to drip down Callum's face. "Just fucking go..." The two kissed briefly again, before Jason violently shoved Callum away from him, the other man giving him a backward glance before he left the room, the door bursting open and the Zompyre's swarming the room._

Jerry sat up attentively - he couldn't remember seeing this part last time - as Jason was now alongside the Zompyre's, his face grimy and his eyes deep red. He bared his fangs in a loud roaring hiss, then the film faded to black and the credits began to roll. He got up from his seat, still in amazement from it.

Once outside the theatre, he leaned against a wall, pulling his phone out and dialling Jack's number. He picked up surprisingly quickly, Jerry frowning at that.

"Hey, did something happen?" he asked. "You fall into a black hole or something?" he wondered jokingly, chuckling to himself to lighten the mood.

There was a short silence before Jack grimaced. "I'm so sorry, Jerry," he apologised, geniunely sounding it. "My Mum sheduled me a doctor's appointment, for my stomach virus, y'know," he explained, Jerry nodding eventhough Jack couldn't see him. "Forgot to tell me what the time was," he added sheepishly.

Jerry smiled in relief; at least Jack didn't decide to just blow him off. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jack said dryly, sighing more to himself than Jerry. "Should be gone in a few weeks or so," he added, his voice quieting slightly as he said the words. He was dejected about something, but Jerry didn't know what.

"Weeks?" Jerry repeated, slightly puzzled. He was fairly sure food poisoning went away in a matter of days, but then again, he was also the same person that mistook a groundhog for a porcupine and got a face-full of needles.

"Doc thinks it's bad food poisoning," Jack went on, "Mum had it last week, probably got it off her," he said, no doubt shrugging from the bored tone in his voice.

"Alright, least you're okay," Jerry said with the relief that Jack obviously couldn't muster. "Do you wanna come around later?" he offered.

"It's the least I can do, since I stood you up," Jack said, chuckling at his own statement.

Jerry felt himself blush, thankful Jack couldn't see him. "You make it sound like it was a date," he retorted playfully, another laugh filling his ears.

"I'll see you later," Jack promised, Jerry determined to keep him to that promise.

"Bye." And with that, Jerry hung up, only able to hope that something else wouldn't get in Jack's way and occupy him. He couldn't help but think that he hadn't said anything about his date comment, though. He thought he would have...

Jerry shook his head, grinning to himself the entire bus-ride home.

A while later, Jerry was lounging on his couch, cartoons playing on the TV and a bowl of potato chips laid carelessly across his stomach. The door knocked and he groaned for his Mum to open it, but there was no response, making his groan again as he had to get up and answer it himself.

He opened the door - half-expecting to see some telemarketer - his face lighting up as he saw Jack standing there. "Hey, you're here," he said with a grin, more surprised than anything.

"Well, it's just bad etiquette to blow you off twice," Jack remarked sarcastically as he moved past him to go inside. Jerry rolled his eyes and shut the door behind him.

Jack sat down on the sofa, putting his feet on the coffee table, and helped himself to some potato chips. "Film any good?" he asked, but then he caught sight of the t-shirt Jerry was wearing, his eyebrow raising.

"Wait," he began, holding up a finger, "You've seen that one five times," he pointed out.

"What part of free t-shirt don't you understand?" Jerry asked him pointedly, coming behind the sofa to grab something hanging on the back of it. "Got you one too," he added, dropping it into Jack's lap.

"Thanks." He smiled and slipped it on over the one he was already wearing, striking a pose with an exaggerated model pout that made Jerry laugh.

"Anyway, the film was awesome!" he said excitedly, swinging himself onto the sofa next to Jack. "They added in all the cut stuff this time," he noted, swearing that he didn't remember Jason and Callum kissing in the version that was originally released.

"What did they cut in the first place?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Pretty much all the plot and substance," Jerry said with a shrug.

"Explains why you love it," he sniggered, Jerry nodding in agreement, with a big grin on his face, before his brain caught up with his ears.

"Hey!" he cried indignantly, slapping Jack on the arm.

"Well..." Jack trailed off, his cheeky smirk fading as a large yawn snuck out of his mouth. He covered his mouth with his hand.

"You wanna play Mortal Kombat?" Jerry asked suggestively, looking at Jack expectantly. "Still haven't picked up from me kicking your ass," he chuckled, watching Jack's expression change.

Jack looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I distinctly remember I had you on the ropes," he said with certainty, but Jerry didn't believe him.

"Mm-hmm."

Jack scoffed, rolling his eyes, and the two of them grabbed two controllers, Jerry loading up the game. He had came up with the idea of them choosing each other's characters, and Jack was _not_ happy.

"Dude, I don't know how to use Scorpion!" he complained, unable to deselect him and pick another one. "And why did you pick a good character for me?" he asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"I didn't think of that," Jerry said suddenly, realising who Jack had picked for him, weighing the two of them up. "Gimme your controller," he ordered, reaching for it.

"No!" Jack clutched the controller to him, gently nudging Jerry away from him with his foot.

"But you said you didn't know how to use him!" Jerry argued back, pouting slightly.

"I don't," Jack admitted, Jerry's brows furrowing. "But I'm not having a character who's first name is Noob," he sniggered, Jerry scowling as he started the game up.

Thankfully he had one advantage; he actually knew how to _use_ Noob Saibot. He smirked to himself as he slowly began diminishing Jack's health bar, leaping away from him as soon as Jack tried to launch an attack.

"No, no, I've forgotten the buttons!" he cried, his fingers pressing madly on random ones as Jerry closed Noob Saibot in, delivering a punching combo. "Suck my uppercut!" Jack said triumphantly, finding the button he needed to whack Noob Saibot through the air and take a large chunk out of his health bar.

"No fair!" Jerry protested, leaping away as Jack shot Scorpion forwards with a combo move that he clearly had no idea how he did it.

"Who said button mashing didn't work?" he said with a vicious chuckle. Jerry narrowed his eyes and pushed Scorpion back with some smoke before Jack could upper cut Noob Saibot again.

A groan of annoyance came from Jerry's mouth as Jack managed to narrowly win the fight, Noob Saibot hanging motionlessly while Jack grinned at him, wiggling his eyebrows. Jerry huffed, throwing his controller beside him and folding his arms.

_Finish him!_

Jack moved Scorpion forwards and pressed several buttons. Scorpion was suddenly enveloped in fire and the beginning of laughter spluttered from Jack's mouth; Scorpion had transformed into a _penguin_ and was waddling towards Noob Saibot's motionless form, laying an...

Jerry squinted. He laid a pixelated egg! _What?_ he thought to himself.

The egg suddenly exploded, Noob Saibot's body going along with it, bones and blood dripping back onto the pixelated stage. Jack and Jerry burst into full-blown laughter once they realised what had just happened.

_Scorpion wins!_ the game announced, Scorpion turning back into his regular form and bowing, '_Animality!' _flashing across the screen in leopard print graphics.

"Now _that_ is a fatality," Jack said in a slightly wheezing voice once their laughter had subsided. "And I win," he declared, reaching over and infuriatingly tapping Jerry on the nose.

"Unfair, this game is rigged," Jerry said in protest, his nose crinkling where Jack had tapped him.

"Then you shouldn't have put the one-hit cheat code on," Jack said, suddenly breaking into a loud coughing fit, making Jerry wince. He sounded _terrible_, like he had Pneumonia or something, but if he had Pneumonia, Jerry was sure he wouldn't be around and he would've told him.

Once Jack recovered from coughing, Jerry attempted to break the silence: "You wanna watch the Zompyre trilogy with me?" he asked, Jack looking at him and simultaneously catching his breath, "Since you missed it," he shrugged, attempting to add some levity.

Jack pulled a face, and then smiled lazily at him. "You're obsessed; you'll turn _into_ a Zompyre," he chuckled accusingly.

"I wouldn't be complaining," Jerry shrugged simply, getting off the sofa to grab the DVD from the cabinet under the TV.

"I would," Jack said with a brief shudder. "You already burp on me, I don't need you turning me into some ugly-ass creature with a bandit mask on its face." He shook his head, Jerry picking out the box set and turning around to face him.

"It's the uncut version," he protested, Jack still looking unfazed. "In HD," he tried in a joking sing-song.

Jack gave over, rolling his eyes. "Fine, put it in."

Jerry gave a clap of delight, Jack again rolling his eyes as he laid back on the sofa. Jerry popped the DVD in the player and sat back down next to Jack, raising an eyebrow slightly when Jack rested his feet in his lap, but he didn't have the heart to complain; the poor guy looked exhausted.

And he was. No sooner than fifteen minutes into the film, Jack was asleep, snoring softly and resting on his arms, his feet still in Jerry's lap. He chuckled to himself at the sight - notcing a mole on Jack's arm where his sleeve was rolled up - Jack was one of the guys who could seriously mess someone up, but never failed to look like an innocent Angel when he slept.

He yawned himself, slowly moving Jack's legs off him, deciding that going to bed would be a very good idea. He was almost to his bedroom, when Jack's phone went off.

Before it could wake Jack up, Jerry dove for it, snatching it off the coffee table. He silenced it, Jack only stirring to rub an itch on his nose, and saw a text from Jack's Mum on the home-screen that puzzled him.

_From: Mum_

_Message: It's all set, honey. Let's hope this helps. I love you._


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, fuck me, where's the time gone? I'm soooo sorry about the long update wait. I just wasn't feeling very inspired to write, and I had college work to do, and an exam that took up a lot of time. But I hope whoever's reading {still} will enjoy it, and bear with me throughout my sporadic updates. :) Which hopefully won't become a yearly thing, hopefully I can finish a few stories this year (well, I should bloody well hope so, I started some three bloody years ago! XD)**

**In answer to your review, Raven: Yes, I am most certainly continuing with this story, but I'm struggling with inspiration ever since Kickin' it finished and the fandom has just seemed to fade. But I won't leave any of my stories unfinished, and since I don't want to cop out and delete it, I'll just have to trudge through. :) (Also, your review name cracked me up, because at the time I read it, I was actually watching episodes of CBBC's Raven; hah, I have weird humor :P)**

**So, to the rest of you, read, review and I will see you next time, which hopefully won't be such a long wait. :)**

* * *

_From: Mum_

_Message: It's all set, honey. Let's hope this helps. I love you._

Regarding the message in confusion, Jerry read it over several times, not knowing what to make of it. The only thing he could think of that Jack needed help with was his stomach virus, but why would that seem like a big deal to both him and his Mum if it would be gone in a few weeks?

Either way, it was too late to dwell on it, and Jerry put Jack's phone back on the table, the blue light dimming and leaving them in darkness as his phone switched off. Jerry didn't know what it was that made him curl up alongside Jack on the sofa, but something was telling him that he shouldn't leave Jack alone.

_I'm too tired for this crap,_ Jerry thought to himself, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He eventually relaxed and let himself be lulled into a dreamless sleep.

He was woken the next morning by the scrumptious smell of his mother's cooking, and sat up to see her bustling around in the kitchen unit behind him. While his stomach registered that he should be getting up, his brain thought he absolutely should still be sleeping, and Jerry laid back down, closing his eyes again.

That was until he felt something strange rubbing against his face.

His curiosity won over and he opened his eyes to see a foot on his cheek.

"What the–"

Then it registered there was _a foot on his face_.

"_Ah!_" He scrambled back in shock, getting tangled up in blankets and pillows, while he could see Jack sniggering and pulling his foot away, sitting up properly and greeting the morning with a loud yawn.

"Sleep all right, boys?" Mrs. Martinez asked from behind them; Jerry was still recovering from the surprise sock-attack to answer.

"Yeah," Jack said with a smile, "and thanks for the blankets, Mrs. Martinez," he added gratefully as he removed himself from under it.

"Jack, I've told you a thousand times, call me 'Katherine'," she responded in a soft, slightly reprimanding, tone.

Jack smiled at her, then he noticed his phone across from him on the coffee table, and picked it up. He opened up the message and Jerry's gut churned – he hoped Jack couldn't tell he had read it – although his didn't seem to be the only one. Jack was staring at the message and chewing on his lower lip until it bled.

"Carlos didn't wake you up leaving for work, did he?" Mrs. Martinez asked, thankfully distracting Jack from the message.

"He's already gone?" Jerry said in confusion, looking around. He hadn't heard the door open this morning.

Mrs. Martinez chuckled: "I'll take that as a 'no'," she guessed with a hint of a smile, "I'll be back in a minute, keep an eye on the breakfast, Jerry," she said to him.

"Sure, Mum," Jerry nodded.

"Jack, are you staying for some?" she asked, although Jerry could tell she wasn't really asking, and would probably lock Jack in the house until he ate something before he left for school.

But Jack didn't seem to notice: "Sure, I'd love to," he smiled and Mrs. Martinez nodded, "Not every day I get omelets for breakfast," he added as an afterthought, Jerry smiling at him.

Mrs. Martinez walked off down the hallway and Jerry was about to get up, when his eyes narrowed on something he spotted on Jack's blanket.

And he noticed him staring. "What?"

But Jerry didn't respond right away; he leaned forwards and plucked it up, realising as he held it up to the light that it was Jack's hair, Jack's eyes widening in horror as he recognized it as well.

"Is that your hair?" Jerry asked with a surprised laugh, although Jack didn't seem to find it as funny.

"Shit..." he swore bluntly, licking his lips nervously.

Jerry honestly couldn't see the big deal; _his_ hair fell out all the time too.

"Calm down, you can barely tell," he told him as Jack started to check for evidence of more hair falling out, "You still look handsome," he said, reaching out to grab Jack's hand and divert his attention away from the obsessive hair-checking.

"Thanks," Jack said in relief, although it sounded forced, with an awkward smile to boot, "Sure you can't tell?" he asked, flattening his hair self-consciously.

"Only if I stare at the back of your head for too long with a magnifying glass," Jerry answered truthfully, Jack smiling – genuinely this time – in relief. "It was only a few strands, I swear," he added as a consolation.

"Let's get the breakfast before your hair problems cause us to burn it, shall we?" he joked, Jack laughing – subsequently breaking into another coughing fit – and following him to the kitchen.

They were both greeted with the warm smell of omelets and pancakes cooking, a substantial amount already on plates on the counter while several more were cooking. While the amount was contemporary for Jerry, it seemed daunting to Jack, who quipped,

"She does realise she usually only has one son to feed, right?"

"One son with needs!" Jerry responded, his affronted stare quickly changing to laughter when Jack shot him down with a quick-fire, "Yeah, needs of an army."

The laughter dissolved and Jack picked up a spatula, turning the two omelets over. Jerry eyed the pancakes with a wicked grin, nudging Jack in the side conspiratorially.

"Hey" – Jack turned towards him – "Bet I can flip a pancake?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Just let me know when you'll try so I can take cover," Jack said in warning, already looking around for a suitable place to hide.

Jerry's eyes narrowed. "_Oi!_" he said, while Jack grinned, "I think I've got it this time," he said, making to pick up the pan.

"You said that the last time," Jack said in response, putting the finished omelets onto the pile on the place, while Jerry shuddered. They didn't speak of the _last_ time.

Either way, Jerry was determined to prove Jack wrong. Grabbing the pan, he tossed it up in the air, the pancake coming loose and flipping over several times in mid-air. It landed back in the pan and both Jack and Jerry cheered.

"Not making a mess, I hope, boys?" Mrs. Martinez called to them as she came back into the main room, walking back over to them.

"When have I ever made a mess?" Jerry asked incredulously, putting the pancake onto the plate and switching everything off.

"Every time you try and put something in the oven," she shot back, Jack snorting with laughter and promptly getting a playful punch in the arm.

The three of them then set up the breakfast bar behind them. Jack and Jerry both sat down whilst Mrs. Martinez laid down plates for the two of them, and one for herself.

Despite Jack's protest, she insisted on giving him a generous helping of both omelets and pancakes, while both she and Jerry just settled with omelets.

"Thanks, Katherine," Jack said, smiling at her gratefully and chuckling in bewilderment as he tried to make room for everything on his plate.

"No problem, honey," Mrs. Martinez said, handing around cutlery, "You look like you could use it," she added, briefly looking Jack up and down.

Jack smiled as he reached for the sugar – Jerry noticing it didn't quite reach his eyes – sprinkling a gargantuan amount onto his pancake until it looked like a fresh layer of snow.

"How can you put that much crap on it?" Jerry asked with widened eyes as Jack began to wrap it up like a burrito, "It'll kill you," he added seriously.

Jack just raised his eyebrow, staring down at Jerry's own omelets, which he had covered in barbeque sauce, and was already a large hunk of meat and pastry. Jerry took an emphatic bite, Jack fondly rolling his eyes.

"You boys need a ride to school today?" Mrs. Martinez asked as she made a start on her own breakfast.

"Nah, we can walk it," Jerry said, waving her off, "Jack's gonna need to burn off all that sugar," he joked playfully, elbowing Jack in the side.

"I actually burn it off in Karate," he retorted with a mouthful of omelets. Then he swallowed, "What's your excuse?" he asked cheekily, poking at his sides.

"Excuse _you_," he shot back.

Jack chuckled and returned to his omelets.

"So, Jack, how's your mother doing?" Mrs. Martinez asked in concern.

"She's doing all right," Jack said with a thoughtful smile, "She's getting better," he said, although he seemed to be holding something back.

Jerry was lost. Since when was there anything wrong with Jack's mother? "She ill?" he asked, his mouth full.

"No," Jack said with a shake of his head, "I lost my Dad about a year before I moved here; it's been rough for her," he said with a heavy sigh.

_That explains why I've never seen him, _Jerry thought to himself. But how come Jack never told him? Or Kim or Milton? It must have been a too touchy subject for him to mention.

"What about you?" Jerry asked, his breakfast forgotten for the moment.

"I've been doing okay, I guess," Jack said with a shrug, looking at him aimlessly and bringing himself to smile.

Jerry reached out an arm and wrapped it around Jack's shoulders, hugging him to his side for a moment. When he released him, he decided he needed to change the subject, and _fast_. The mood had gotten way too depressing in here.

"Don't you have work today, Mum?" Jerry asked her, returning to his food.

"I'm not in till later," she said with a smile, "I was gonna go visit my friend Julie, she's got a bad stomach bug, and I have lasagna from last night to spare so I thought I'd bring it over," she explained, shrugging slightly.

"Oh," he said with a slow nod, "Jack's got it too," he added.

Jack speared a large chunk of omelet onto his fork. "Hopefully not for much longer," he said, "This sore throat's a pain in the ass," he stated plainly, popping the omelet chunk in his mouth.

Eventually the two of them finished their breakfast – with Mrs. Martinez wrapping the leftovers for them to eat later – and Jack and Jerry headed off to school, their first lesson of Shop class passing by almost uneventfully, but the breeze ground to a halt as they entered their second lesson. To say Math as a lesson before lunch was an absolute drag wouldn't even cover it.

The teacher, Mr. Hattrick, had given up on teaching them how to multiply fractions a solid twenty minutes ago, and had begun grilling them all on the importance of Math and their lack of interest in anything that wasn't throwing paper airplanes at each other. As boring as everyone found it, no-one dared say a word.

"Do you all not _want_ to learn?!" he was asking emphatically as he paced up and down the front of the classroom, looking at their blank face. "Do you not want to ever amount to anything in life? Math is one of the fundamentals of our society; most of it would not _function_ without it! Much like any of you if you do not start–"

The bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson, and effectively stopping Mr. Hattrick's rant, and the class erupted into an almighty cheer that rivalled that of fans at a soccer pitch.

"All right, all right!" Mr. Hattrick called over the cheering and whistling, the latter eventually simmering down, "Make sure your homework assignments are on my desk by tomorrow, no exceptions," he said, the last words punctuated with an eagle-eyed stare aimed towards the back row – which happened to include Jack and Kim, who shifted uncomfortably.

As soon as everyone was outside, Jack responded with a less than favorable joke of, "Man, could that guy _be_ any more of a dick?" causing Kim and Jerry to snigger.

Milton looked affronted. "Jack!" he said incredulously.

"Well..." he trailed off knowingly, pushing open the double door to the cafeteria.

The four of them walked up to the food counter, Jerry noticing Milton paling considerably as he muttered, "Oh no..."

Jerry turned to see the source of his worry - The Black Dragons.

"We'll be fine, just ignore them," Kim said with a dismissive shrug, paying them as little attention as she could, although it was hard because of all the noise they were making.

"Besides, they're not stupid enough to do anything with a teacher here," Jerry said confidently, although with the Black Dragons' stupidity, he would never know.

"They were last time," Jack pointed out, with Jerry nodding in agreement, remembering Jack would know all about that, "And it was only Marge," he added, the others chuckling.

"_Hey!_" a familiar, affronted, voice said from behind them. They turned to see Marge stood behind the food counter.

Jack smiled at her. "Sorry," he apologized.

But Marge laughed it off. "I'm only playing," she said, "Got some good stuff in today, what would you kids like?" she asked.

"Hotdog with ketchup and hash browns," Jerry said with a smile.

"Double-cheese burger with bacon and fries," Jack said.

Kim looked thoughtful, for a moment, before she said, "Meatball sandwich."

And Milton finished with, "Salad with sour cream," and the four of them handed over their trays.

"Well, we can certainly tell who's been paying too much attention to Mr. Slawter's crap about too much food rotting you from the inside," Kim teased, playfully poking Milton in the sides.

"Here you go, guys," Marge said once their trays had been filled.

They took them, saying, "Thanks!" in unison.

They turned around to find a table, and as Jack turned to grab a ketchup packet, Jerry caught sight of how much Marge had actually put on Jack's plate, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Christ, Jack are you eating for two or something?" he added playfully.

Jack smiled. "Nah, I'm just starving."

"Yet yesterday you couldn't finish a teeny piece of Red Velvet cake," Kim pointed out, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm a mystery," Jack shot back, giving her a sly smirk that she laughed at.

They found a table and sat down, making a start on their food. Jerry heard Milton cringe and turned to see a large trail of ketchup dripping down Jack's chin like bloody vomit.

Jack noticed him staring. "What?"

"You got a bit..." Milton trailed off and motioned towards his own chin.

Jack's eyes narrowed in confusion, then he realized. "Oh."

Kim rolled her eyes with a smile, handing him a napkin.

"Thanks," he said, and proceeded to wipe his mouth clean.

Jerry laughed as he then went about putting _more_ ketchup onto his burger, and laying a bed of fries onto the patty. It was a somewhat fresh juxtaposition to yesterday when he barely ate anything.

"How can you even open your mouth that wide?" Kim asked in surprise through her mouthful, as Jack took a large bite.

"I'll let you in on a secret," he said as he swallowed, looking around to see if anyone would be listening, the others playing along and leaning in towards him, "I'm part snake," he said mysteriously, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Where's Harry Potter when you need him?" Jerry wondered out loud, both him and Jack bursting into a fit of laughter – that had Jerry feeling slightly guilty as Jack broke into a loud coughing fit.

"I'd be careful guys, too much red meat can clog your arteries and increase your risk of cardiac arrest," Milton warned them as Jack stopped coughing, while Jerry thought he should be grateful that Marge knew what the food was for once.

"See this is why we never take you to Circus Burger," Kim pointed out, "You always tell us that every time we order a hot dog or something," she said, Jack and Jerry nodding in agreement.

"You even did it when I had a chicken burger that one time," Jack pitched in incredulously.

"Well ex-cu-se _me_ for worrying about my heart!" Milton said in response.

Kim gave him a look of disbelief. "You're sixteen," she said plainly, "Live a little," she encouraged him, Jerry seeing Jack swallow slightly when she said that, although he couldn't put it down to whether he was swallowing because he was still eating, or because he was uncomfortable.

Shrugging it off, he returned to his food... or he _tried_ to, but a harsh, hard slap to the back of his head interrupted him. He turned at the sound of raucous laughter, and surprise, surprise. _Frank_ was the culprit.

"Hey!" he said in exasperation as Frank made to just _walk past_ him, frowning in annoyance.

Jack turned around and narrowed his eyes. "Dude..." he trailed off in warning, shaking his head with a dangerous glint in them.

"Sorry, my hand slipped," Frank said innocently, the latter holding about as much merit as a drunken man's claims that his mother was a giraffe.

"Yeah, course it did," Jack said dryly with a fake smile, "And you also happen to eat shit because your mother can't afford dog food to feed you," he added, Frank's eyes narrowing.

"What did you just say?" he demanded, folding his arms.

"You heard me," Jack said plainly, shrugging.

He then got up and turned around, looking Frank dead in the eye. "Look, Frank, I'm actually enjoying this food today, so I'd rather not throw it in your face," he said, his tone bordering on a threat, "So if I were you, I would just walk away now," he advised.

"Or what?" Frank asked petulantly, the Dragon's on either side of him sizing Jack up.

"Or I'll knock you, and your friends, flat on your ass," Jack said simply, "I did last time, didn't I?" he pointed out with a shrug.

While the other two Dragon's deflated noticeably, Frank's expression turned sour and he leaned into Jack's personal space, Jack not moving a muscle. "This isn't over," he said lowly.

He then stepped back and looked at the other Dragon's. "C'mon guys, let's go shove nerds into their lockers," he said, the three of them leaving in a rush of air, their laughter echoing into the hallway.

Jack rolled his eyes and sat back down, noticing everyone staring open-mouthed at him.

"What?"

Kim was the first to speak: "Nothing, we've just never heard you–"

"Swear?" Jack finished for her, "It got 'em to go away, didn't it?" he said knowingly.

"They're probably just trying to psyche us out for the tournament," Milton offered, "They know they don't stand a chance against us," he said, looking between Jack and Kim.

Kim looked unconvinced. "I wouldn't be so sure," she said in warning, "When Ty isn't cheating his way through things or crying, he is actually a pretty good Sensei," she admitted shamelessly, "I did get a black belt under him, remember?" she said in remembrance.

"Psssh, as if Jack would let them win," Jerry said confidently, swinging an arm around him.

The four of them turned back to their food, and finished it as the bell rang for next lesson. Kim headed off to English Literature and Milton headed off to Physics, and Jack and Jerry headed to the Gym, Jerry dreading it more than when his cousin Pepito came to stay.

It was Dodgeball day.

And he especially hated it when he was in the middle of a game – his team winning by several people out on the opposing team – and a ball came slicing through the air and smacked him on the head, taking him out of the game.

"Ow!" he cried as the ball bounced off his head, one of his teammates, Damien, catching it before it could hit the ground and returned fire as Mr. Burton sharply blew his whistle.

"You're supposed to _dodge_ the ball, Mr. Martinez!" he yelled at him as Jerry took himself out of the firing zone without a word of hesitation, "C'mon boys, work harder, I wanna see you sweat!" he yelled, addressing the rest of the class.

Jerry went and sat down, nursing the bump on his head – the only reason the hit had taken him out of the game was because Mr. Burton had decided that the 'waist area only' rule was for pussies – and realized Jack was sat there too.

"Wow, who managed to hit you?" Jerry asked in surprise as he sat beside him.

Jack rolled his eyes with a fond smile. "I'm not invincible, Jerry," he said, and as if to further his claim, he erupted into a loud coughing fit.

"Mr. Brewer, cough up your lungs on your own time!" Mr. Burton roared at him from across the room.

"Dick," Jack muttered harshly in response.

He then shook it off and they both turned their attention to the game, both Damien and Mark eventually joining them on the bench – although Damien was back in pretty quickly – as well as several others, putting their team's number down to five against seven, plus Damien when he had gone back in. Luckily he had caught the ball before it could hit him, the opposing team groaning.

"C'mon, Jack, you're up!" he called to him, beckoning him over. Jerry patted Jack on the back as he went to rejoin the game.

Jack's phone suddenly rang loudly, and Jerry darted over to it – answering it to silence it – before Mr. Burton could hear it and unleash a world of Hell upon Jack for 'daring' to leave his phone on during class.

It was a voicemail message: "_Hello, Jack this is Doctor Rutger; your Mum said to try your phone if I couldn't reach her and__–_"

The phone was suddenly snatched from his hand and Jerry yelped in surprise, whirling around and expecting to find a red-faced Mr. Burton, but he was relieved to find it was only Jack.

"Sorry!" he apologized quickly as Jack muted the message, "It was just so Mr. Burton wouldn't hear it," he said defensively.

Jack smiled at him. "It's fine," he said reassuringly.

He put the phone to his ear and listened to the message for himself, his face becoming a sour mask of contempt. That puzzled Jerry a little; if it was about an appointment to get medicine for his stomach virus, why did he seem so pissed off about it?

"Aren't you gonna call them back?" Jerry asked in confusion as Jack switched his phone off completely.

"Not even if it would save my life," Jack responded with a heavy sigh, Jerry's attempt at a response being interrupted by the harsh shriek of Mr. Burton's whistle.

"Right!" he called to the silent room, "If you ladies can't stand five minutes of dodgeball, maybe you'll prefer _fifty_ minutes of laps," he shouted, the room breaking into a loud murmur of disagreement.

He blew his whistle over the noise. "_Now!_"

Everyone reluctantly began pouring out of the room and onto the field. At least it wasn't swelteringly hot, or Artic-style cold.

Jack was among one of the few who didn't seem to mind, and sped off ahead alongside Damien and Mark. Jerry jogged over to two students who were wearing leather jackets on top of their P.E kits. Funny, he thought there were more of them.

"Yo, Burton's off his rocker," he said to them out of the corner of his mouth, glancing at Mr. Burton as he finally joined them out on the field, the red-haired one nodding in agreement.

"You say that like it's somethin' new," the other one snapped, pausing briefly to fiddle with an earring in his ear.

Jerry then raised an eyebrow in bewilderment at their choice of clothing. "How you two can run in leather, I don't wanna know."

"We're not runnin'," the red-haired one pointed out, "We're takin' a leisurely stroll, and if Burton's got a problem, he can cram that whistle up his ass," he added with a perky smile, Jerry laughing and racing off to join Jack, who was in the process of lapping him.

When he reached him, he saw Jack slowing down and coughing violently. He looked exceptionally white and there were beads of sweat glistening off his forehead, his fringe sticking there.

"Whoa, Jack!" he cried, putting a hand on his shoulder, trying to get him to stop for a moment and catch his breath, "You okay, dude?" he asked in concern.

Jack wiped away the sweat with the back of his hand. "Yeah, I should be," he said with a nod and a faint smile.

Both of them started running again, and it got to Jerry's fourth lap – Jack's fifth – before he realized something was wrong; Jack was slowing down more and more, and soon Jerry lost sight of him from how far behind he was.

When he caught up to him on the latest lap, he was forced to watch in horror as Jack's eyelids fluttered and he collapsed on the ground, unmoving.

"_Jack!_"


	4. Chapter 4

Jerry shot off like a rocket towards where Jack had collapsed, skidding to his knees beside him and worriedly touching a hand to his brow. He was out cold, skin warm and sweat beads glistening all down his face and neck. Jerry shot a nasty look at Mr. Burton, who was too busy accosting a trio of people in green argyle sweaters to notice a passed out student.

Johnny and Vance jogged over, the red-head's eyes bulging in slight concern as he saw Jack.

"Shit, did he _pass out?"_ he asked incredulously, exchanging a shocked expression with Johnny, while the older boy just stared, unsure of what to do.

"Can one of you go get Mr. Burton?" Jerry asked, having to squint up at them because of the sun beating down into his eyes.

He couldn't tell which one of them it was that had jogged off towards Mr. Burton until Johnny kneeled down beside him and Jack.

"Jack, can you hear me, man?" Jerry asked, tapping Jack's face gently to try and get a response, but it turned into frantically shaking him when he got none. "Say something?!" he demanded, scooping Jack half-off the floor to support his lolling head.

"'ow's he supposed to get a word in edgeways?" Johnny asked in surprise, raising an eyebrow.

Jerry frowned uneasily, supposing Johnny _did_ have a point. He shifted Jack's unconscious weight so he was resting more comfortably on his lap, wincing a little. The blood gathering at the corner of Jack's mouth was worrying him.

He was once again needing to squint up to Vance's figure when he jogged back over, saying, "All right, Burton's callin' the Nurse," and then slapping Johnny lightly on the shoulder, "We should be able to get him down there," he said to the other boy.

"A'ight," Johnny said with a shrug, Jerry helping lift Jack into both their arms; Johnny taking his head, and Vance taking his legs. "C'mon, Jacky-boy," he said with a grunt of effort, hoisting him higher into their arms.

As Jerry got up and dusted himself off, he heard Vance asking, "You comin', kiddo?" with a backward glance.

Jerry looked over nervously at where Mr. Burton was still hollering orders to "keep running!" at his sweating class––with no indication he had just called a teacher about a pupil fainting moments ago––most of whom had actually stopped to stare at the display of an unconscious Jack being carried by Johnny and Vance.

He subconsciously moved in front of Jack, blocking him from few as Mr. Burton blew his whistle and bellowed, "All right, boys, you wanna keep gawking instead of running, that'll be another _fifty laps!_"

"Absolutely," Jerry said with no hesitation, catching up with Johnny and Vance before he was labelled as one of the 'gawkers'.

Thankfully there was enough of the lesson time left to be able to carry Jack through empty corridors. The last thing Jerry wanted was for a swarm of students to see him; he would never live it down. Just in case, whenever the three of them passed by an occupied classroom, Jerry would walk in front of Jack to deliberately shield him.

When they reached the Nurse's office, Jack still wasn't showing any signs of waking up. Nurse McRae heard them coming and turned around, practically leaping up from her chair in alarm.

"Good heavens, what's happened here?!" she cried, walking over to the three of them. Seeing Jack, she folded her arms and gave Johnny a bland look. "Getting into the habit of bringing the people you beat up to me now, Johnny?" she asked, folding her arms.

"He's the kid who passed out during gym," Johnny said with a wry smile, unamused, while Vance just shifted uncomfortably.

At that, Nurse McRae let out a soft, "Well I never..." and motioned for Johnny and Vance to lay Jack down on the bed. "Why Mr. Burton insists on outdoor P.E in this weather I'll never know," she added in distaste.

"Because he's _loco de cabeza?_" Jerry said with a bright smile, earning a snigger from Vance and a slightly reproachful look from the Nurse, "Even on a good day," he added with a shudder, remembering the time he had been in a bad mood––not that it was easy to tell when he wasn't––and made them run through the woods in their summer kit. In the rain. Most of the class weren't in the next day because they caught the flu.

"Had us runnin' laps," Johnny said helpfully.

Nurse McRae sighed, pinching her brow. "All right," she said with a nod as she gave Jack a once over, then she turned to the three of them. "Well, since it's nearly end of the current period anyway, there's no point in you going back," she said, and it was like music to Jerry's ears.

"Sweet!" Vance cheered, he and Johnny giving each other a high five before charging out of the room, their happy hollers and yells echoing down the corridors.

Jerry wished he could share their sentiments, but he couldn't. Seeing Jack laid out like that on what was practically a hospital bed was unnerving. Especially since he wasn't even so much as stirring. At least he was breathing, that was for––

"Are you all right, Jerry?" Nurse McRae asked, her voice crashing into his thoughts.

"Uh, Jack'll be okay, right?" he asked hesitantly.

Nurse McRae gave him a reassuring smile: "I should think it's a combination of lack of water, heat and all the running Mr. Burton had you lot doing," she said, disdain tinging the last few words, "I'll let Jack's mother know what's happened, and see if Dr. Crabblesnitch can at least give Mr. Burton a suspension warning because of this," she added.

"Believe it or not, Jack isn't the first I've seen in here because of that man and his teaching methods," she disclosed in a low voice, Jerry wondering why the Hell Mr. Burton hadn't been fired yet; there had even been rumours of a sexual harassment charge being filed against him.

He gave Jack a last look, not sure why he was expecting anything back from a comatose boy, and left the office. Just as he took his first few steps, the bell for end of lesson rang and the hallways were quickly flooded by students and the buzzing sound of chatter.

Jerry was on his way back to the changing rooms when he bumped into Kim and Milton. Or more like they bumped into him; both flustered like they had been running. (God, Jerry didn't want to hear that word again for a while.)

"Hey, we heard about Jack," Kim said in concern, slightly out of breath. So _that _waswhy they had been running.

"Is he okay?" Milton pressed.

"Passed out running laps," Jerry said with a shrug, Kim's eyes widening a little, "He's in the Nurse's office," he added, Milton sighing in relief.

"Wait," he said in confusion, holding up a finger, "How did you possibly hear that already?" he asked. It wasn't even five minutes out of lesson's end and people were talking about it?

"Frank's in your guys' gym class, remember?" Milton said with a sour look on his face, Jerry seeing said boy walking towards them over Kim's shoulder.

"How could I forget?" Jerry muttered, Kim sharing an exasperated look with him as Frank strolled up, on his own for once instead of flanked by two other Black Dragon's.

"Awww, did Jacky-Wacky pass out?" Frank mocked them in a taunting voice, Jerry choosing to stay quiet and narrow his eyes, while Kim and Milton got on the offensive, turning around to glare at him.

"Insulting our friend so close to the Nurse's office is probably the dumbest–"

"And smartest," Milton cut in, Kim giving him a quick nod.

"–Thing you've ever done," she finished with a devious grin.

At _Kim's_ expression, Frank backed off slightly––probably more aware of what she was capable of more than the two of them––but then turned to Jerry, a condescending look on his face as he looked down his nose at him.

"What could you three losers possibly do to–"

Frank was cut off as Jerry grabbed his wrist, kicking him hard in the ribs and making him double over in pain. Using that to his advantage, Jerry flipped the other boy on his back, letting go at the last minute so he would slam into the ground.

Frank blinked up at him in shock, while Kim sniggered at his hiss of, "I think Nurse McRae has something for bruised egos."

Having made his point, Jerry walked away. As good as it felt to finally knock Frank down a peg, it also felt weird. Sure, he'd felt that angry and _thought_ about doing it many times, but actually doing it was different. Clearly Kim and Milton were thinking the same thing as they jogged up to him.

"Hey, what was that about?" Milton asked, the more shocked out of him and Kim about what had just happened, "Not that I'm complaining or anything," he added with a shake of his head.

"Nothing," Jerry said off-handedly, not entirely sure why himself. Probably to defend Jack's honour or something like that, but Jack was perfectly capable of defending himself. "Just can't _stand_ those guys," he said in annoyance, folding his arms.

"Well, so long as you're sure?" Kim asked in lieu of confirmation. He just shrugged.

The bell for next lesson blared through the halls and people around them seemed to jolt to life and start walking to their next lesson, still holding their conversations with one another. Kim hoisted her bag over her shoulder.

"C'mon, we've got chemistry," she said, already heading off in that direction.

"I'm still in my kit," Jerry offered, holding his arms out with a slight laugh, "I'll meet you there," he said, waving them off to head down to the changing rooms.

While getting out of gym early to help Jack had the perk that he didn't have to run anymore laps and risk passing out himself, it also had a downside. Someone––Jerry betting it was Frank––had put his clothes in the shower and gotten them drenched in water.

He swore under his breath, getting the damp shirt and jeans out from under the running shower head. He dumped them in his kit bag, finding that his jacket was untouched. At least he looked semi-presentable when he walked into Chemistry class about fifteen minutes late, the only tell that he was still in his kit was his joggers. He'd zipped his jacket up to cover his shirt.

He could see Frank sniggering to his friends when he walked in, but he was past caring. He looked to his regular table, seeing that Jack was still a no-show. He could at least hope he was up and––pun not intended––running as opposed to still passed out.

"Nice of you to join us at last, Mr. Martinez," Dr. Watts said from behind him, Jerry turning for a split second to acknowledge him. "Your task is on your table with your group, and for god's sake, _don't eat anything!_" he stressed.

"How dumb does he think I am?" Jerry asked as he made it over to the table he usually shared with Jack, Kim and Milton, shoving both his bags under the table and pushing his stool in.

When Milton looked about to answer, he quickly shot him down with, "Don't say anything," and a finger pointing in his face in warning.

"You okay? Didn't think it took you long to get changed," Kim said.

"Some genius put my clothes in the shower," Jerry said with a roll of his eyes. "What'd I miss?" he asked.

"Nothing, we were waiting on you," Kim smiled. "We're basically doing these reactions" –– she slid the task sheet over to him –– "and taking notes for the papers we're gonna be doing next week," she explained, Jerry nodding in understanding even though he'd only caught about half of it, his brain still trying to understand half of the words on the task sheet.

"I can't believe we're working with Caesium!" Milton gushed excitedly, both Kim and Jerry rolling their eyes with small smiles, "Jack's gonna be sorry he missed this," he added, picking up his pair of safety goggles.

"Yeah, if we're in an opposite universe," Kim said with a snort of disbelief, Jerry giving Milton a look of agreement, "Anyway, isn't this stuff extremely dangerous?" she asked, giving the side-eye to some of the beakers with the more complicated names, slowly taking a pair of safety goggles.

"That's why there's safety screens, thicker containers and less water in the last two," Milton said knowingly, Kim moving to stand behind him a little.

At the implications, Jerry grabbed his own pair and placed them on. "Speaking of Jack," he began as Milton started to prepare the first reaction of Lithium, "Have either of you noticed anything weird going on with him?" he asked.

Kim frowned. "Like?"

"Well, he just blew up out of nowhere the other day, and we all saw how he couldn't eat that red velvet cake," Jerry said, well aware he might have seemed like he was clutching at straws, but something about Jack lately wasn't sitting right with him. "I mean, who can't finish a piece of red velvet cake?!" he stressed.

"I'm sure he's fine, Jerry," Kim said soothingly, patting him on the shoulder.

About half-way into the lesson, Kim and Milton were conducting the experiement with the larger flake of Sodium and comparing it to the reaction from the smaller chip, while Jerry was still trying to scribble down something that made sense in his notepad using both Kim and Milton's notes. But it wasn't easy; Milton's notes were paragraphs of lengthy scientific mumbo-jumbo, while Kim's were a lot simpler, but still used a lot of words Jerry didn't understand.

Although his struggles ceased when the door opened and Jack walked in, looking none the worse for wear. Jerry smiled, elbowing Kim and Milton to get their attention. They both shared a relieved smile as Jack walked up to Dr. Watts' desk.

"Ah, Mr. Brewer," he said, looking up from his marking to acknowledge him, "Glad you could join us at last," he added, Jack giving him an apologetic smile.

"Did Nurse McRae email you?" he asked.

"Yes, not to worry, my boy," Dr. Watts' said warmly, dismissing him with a wave of his hand.

Jack reached their table, perching on his stool with a sigh, tiredly rubbing his face. For all intents and purposes, Jerry couldn't tell Jack had passed out a while ago, but he could tell that something was bugging him. And his cough definitely hadn't gone away.

But he tried to make out like nothing was niggling at him, cheering, "Hey, there he is!" to a slightly bashful Jack.

"So a little heat got you down, huh?" Kim said teasingly, playfully ruffling Jack's hair.

Despite the smile emerging on his face, he tried to remain stern as he shook Kim's hands away, "I don't know what you heard, but there was _nothing_ 'little' about the number of laps Burton made us run," he said pointedly, looking to Jerry for back up.

Jack's face suddenly fell a little. "Oh, did I miss the Caesium?" he asked in dismay.

"Told you," Milton said triumphantly as Kim and Jerry exchanged surprised looks, "No, we were just finishing up with the Rubidium," he said, Jack nodding.

"So why don't we have the one below Caesium?" Kim wondered curiously, "The Fra-something?" she offered, trying to clarify when she saw Milton's brows furrow.

"Because it's an extremely volatile element that would explode probably everything within a ten mile radius," he explained as he began to prepare dropping the Rubidium into it's tank of water, Jerry's eyes widening nervously, "And it has a half life of 22 minutes, so not much exists at once in any given time," he finished, dropping it in.

As sparks fizzled, Jerry sped over to where Jack was standing––in the clear zone––while Kim and Milton went a little closer to monitor the reaction. The water shot up like a mini geyser, spraying foam onto the safety screen. Kim made an impressed noise, while Milton was already in the middle of taking notes.

"Hey, you coming to practice tonight?" Kim asked while she helped Milton prepare the Caesium, taking one of the biggest flakes she could find, "Rudy says his new training machine might be arriving," she added coaxingly, but Jerry snorted. He'd been saying that for the past two weeks; one of the downsides of ordering from Japan.

"Maybe later," Jack said, his voice slightly strained. He coughed to clear his throat. "Got the Doctors after school," he said, swallowing.

"_Again?_" Jerry asked in surprise. It felt like he had _just_ been.

"Yeah, they just need to do some blood tests," he said with a shrug, stifling a coughing fit into his hand.

"For food poisoning?" Milton asked, dropping the chunk of Caesium in the tank of water. Kim came to stand beside Jack and Jerry.

"To see if it's _only_ food poisoning," Jack corrected, a yawn over-taking him, "Shouldn't be too long," he said as consolation.

The two of them were interrupted by a sudden loud fizzing sound that bore way to a larger scale explosion; the glass of the tank shattered and leaked the water all over the table, sparks still fizziling as water spray spattered against the safety glass.

"_Holy Christmas Nuts!_" Milton exclaimed in shock, his jaw dropping.

"Okay, that was _awesome!_" Jerry cried in agreement, high-fiving Jack and Milton.

Although sparring certainly wasn't with Jack at the Doctors; Jerry groaned as once again, Kim flipped him to the mat. At least she had stopped _kicking_ him down to the floor. He didn't think his ribs could have taken much more.

"Rudy!" Jerry complained over to the Sensei, Rudy pausing briefly in helping Milton with kicking practice, "Why are you always putting me with Kim lately?" he asked with a pout, folding his arms.

"Because Jack's abandoned us and Kim's the only real challenge for you," Rudy said plainly, shrugging and not noticing Milton's slightly affronted look at his insinuation, "If you wanna get your brown belt, you're gonna need to start putting in a hundred and ten percent," he added, Jerry grumbling under his breath. But Rudy _was_ right.

"Round four, c'mon!" Rudy said to Jerry and Kim, clapping his hands.

Kim grinned, readying her fighting stance, while Jerry threw his hands up in exasperation. "Oh for the love of–!"

His tirade was cut short as Jack barrelled in, lugging his duffle bag, yelling a, "Wait!" and quickly declaring, "Don't start without me!" before Kim could knock Jerry on his ass again.

"Oh look, Rudy," Jerry said emphatically, quickly speed-walking away from Kim to a slightly bewildered Jack, "It's my best friend Jack who loves me and sees me as more than a punching bag!" he said with a pointed look, before playfully wrapping Jack in a hug.

Jack chuckled and returned the hug with a genuine one, hoisting his duffle into his locker once Jerry released him. Although Jerry couldn't help but feel he needed another one. He looked like absolute Hell, tired and ill.

Clearly Jerry wasn't the only one who noticed: "Everything all right, Jack?" Rudy asked in concern, himself, Kim and Milton coming closer to them both.

"Uh, yeah," Jack said in the midst of a betraying yawn, stifling it with the back of his hand, "It's just food poisoning," he said reassuringly, giving them a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "Nothing to worry about," he finished.

"All right," Rudy said, although he still sounded unconvinced, "I want you taking it easy until you're at your best again, so you're gonna spar with Milton," he said, Jack nodding and leaving Jerry with a sympathetic look and a pat on the shoulder.

It took Jerry a while to stop thinking about Jack and those bags under his eyes, and realise exactly what was going on, exploding with an exasperated, "_Man!_" while Kim just laughed at him.

"The sooner we start, the sooner I can get it over with if you prefer," she said, trying to reassure him as they, and Jack and Milton, walked to the centre of the mat.

"Just don't flip me this time," Jerry said in a plea as he raised his fists, Kim quirking her eyebrows in response.

She started off the sparring with a few easy kicks that Jerry managed to block and follow through with a few of his own, actually managing to execute a roundhouse and flip backwards onto his feet without failing miserably––thanks to his dancing abilities––but trust her to step up her game when Jack started coughing _a lot_ and he began getting distracted.

And just like that, the sparring took a swan-dive in favour of Jerry losing and became a game of dogding Kim's feet and hands. When Jack's coughing increased so much he had to stop sparring and was forced over from how much he was coughing, Jerry gave up focusing completely and felt his legs being swept out from under him and he collided with the mat. He scrambled up, momentarily forgetting Jack's wellbeing to accost a sniggering Kim.

"_Dude!_"

"You said not to flip you," she said with a smile, shrugging to him, "and you've gotta stop getting distracted so easily," she said, poking him in the shoulder, "Especially if you wanna be a black belt," she added, looking at him knowingly.

Any response Jerry would've had, was cut off by a shocked Milton; "Jack, is that _blood?_"

Both Kim and Jerry whipped around to look at Jack, who was wiping a thin stream of blood off his chin. He seemed both confused and shocked from it at the same time, but not akin to the way that it would've been if Milton had accidentally hit him. Whenever that happened, he usually laughed it off.

But there wasn't any laughter, and Jerry didn't like it. "Jack?" he asked, tentatively walking forwards. It piqued Rudy's interest as well.

"I'm fine," he said, waving a hand dismissively to reassure them, but it didn't work.

"You are _not_ fine," Rudy said knowingly, Jack sighing heavily as the older man's voice raised slightly, "Unless Milton's suddenly developed a mean right hook" – Jack looked down guiltily – "or your mother cooks with chemicals, this isn't food poisoning," he said as a matter of finality.

"Technically all food has chemicals in it," Milton quipped unhelpfully.

"_Milton!_" Rudy snapped, instantly regretting it when he saw Milton's expression drop, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. He turned to Jack, looking sympathetic, rather than angry, "Jack, the truth, _now."_

Jack eventually gave up his resolve, sighing. "All right," he said, and was it Jerry's imagination, or did he look a little relieved about the whole thing? "Guess I was gonna have to come clean to you guys at some point," he said as a matter-of-factly, shuffling uncomfortably.

By this point, the four of them had formed a circle around Jack, Jerry reaching out to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Come clean about what?" Kim asked, "Jack, whatever it is, we can––" She stopped herself talking when Jack started biting his lip nervously, putting his hand up to Jerry's and squeezing it, like he was trying to calm himself down.

"The Doctors today," Jack began, his voice the smallest and quietest it had ever been, "It wasn't for blood tests for food poisoning," he said, and Jerry was about to chip in with a comment about how they all already knew, but he couldn't bring himself to.

Something was brewing deep in his gut, something sinister. He tightened his grip on Jack's hand. He looked so small, childlike and vulnerable, his lower lip quivering.

"It was for chemotherapy," Jack said finally, sighing like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders, but all that had happened, was the weight crashed down onto theirs.

The words hung in the air until the others managed to make sense of it; Kim putting a hand up to her mouth in disbelief, Milton's brow furrowing like he hadn't heard him, Rudy looking at him in horror, while Jerry felt a massive lump form in his throat. This _couldn't_ be happening.

"Chemo..." Kim tried to repeat, trailing off in shock, while Jack nodded gravely with tears in his eyes, "But, Jack, that means that–" She couldn't bring herself to say it.

Jerry's mouth went dry and he felt all the colour drain from his face. There was no way that _Jack_ had... "No..."

"Yes," Jack said in grave tone, looking up at them with a teary sigh, "I've got cancer."


End file.
